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Friday, March 28, 2014

Foodie Friday - Irish Cottage Pie

Today is a bittersweet day, because it will be the last post in my Foodie Friday series. Before you get too sad and distraught over this fact, I promise to continue to share recipes and meals that I try. I always have and I always will, they just won't be under the heading of "Foodie Friday". It's time for me to move on to a new weekly series and can I just say, I'm really excited about this next one! But take heart my dear readers, Foodie Friday will probably make a comeback in the future. You just can't go wrong with food posts.

Now enough talk, time to share some good ol' comfort food! Since we are officially in the never ending winter and continue to battle cold temperatures (it was -9 Celsius here on Wednesday), I thought I would make one of my favourite winter meals of all time, shepherd's pie. Seriously, I can never ever get sick of shepherd's pie. Okay, so maybe I could if I ate it enough times, but so far I haven't. My trick, find different recipes and keep it varied! For example, this recipe for Irish Cottage Pie from The Gluten Free Goddess is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

The first time I had this recipe was when we visited Jeff and Tory back in November and I immediately fell in love. The addition of tomatoes and balsamic vinegar to the meat base added the perfect flavour and made me want to eat the whole pan. I didn't, but Dan did. Kidding! Well, sort of. He did make a significant dent in it though.

Back to the present. I made it again a couple weeks back but didn't photograph any of the process, we were just too excited to eat it. So when I was trying to think of the perfect meal to end off my Foodie Friday series, Tory (yes the same Tory that I always talk about) suggested this cottage pie. I was immediately on board, because it's so good I don't mind eating it multiple times in one month. Seriously, you have to believe me on this. The flavours are to die for.

This is also the meal that introduced me to leeks. Now that I've tried them, I am hooked and continue to buy them for other recipes. How did I not discover them before now?

Leeks and garlic, what a perfect way to start any recipe.

Oh and meat. In my opinion, every meal is better with meat. At least this meal is. No offense to the vegetarians out there.

Another thing I discovered with this recipe is fire roasted tomatoes. Seriously, this meal has taught me so much about foods I never used before. I've been missing out!

I get so excited while cooking this meal, with the aroma of balsamic vinegar and herbs drifting up to me. The mixture of meat and veggies make the perfect colour combination and I just feel healthy by looking at it. Wouldn't you agree?

I almost feel bad adding the potatoes to the top of it. But not that bad, since mashed potatoes are the bomb. Although these are special mashed potatoes, calling only for olive oil, salt and pepper and you mash them up with a fork. I admit though, I may have added a drizzle of garlic oil into them as well. I couldn't resist.

Another awesome thing about this recipe, is that it produces a ton of leftovers. Well, if you only feed two people to start with that is. I know not everyone loves leftovers but I sure do, so I'm happy. I also totally overeat when it comes to this meal which is good for my weight gain goals.

So the moral of this story is to make this meal yourself. You won't regret it one bit, I promise. And if you are gluten-free and need inspiration for recipes, check out the rest of The Gluten Free Goddess blog, she has some mad talent. She also has a ton of tips for going gluten-free, baking, etc.

So there you have it folks, the awesome finale to my Foodie Friday series. But stay tuned for my next series starting up on Monday, April 7th. Anyone care to take any guesses to what I will be talking about? Monday is your hint.

Casey - Growing up, we rarely ate it so once I moved out I made it all the time. It started with a basic meat, cream corn and mashed potatoes but transitioned over the years. The reason why I like this one so much is that it's different enough you don't compare it. What does you mom put in hers?

About Me

Ever since I was a little girl I wanted to be a homemaker. This blog captures my journey as I live out my dream. I will be sharing my life – from my struggles trying to have a baby to my day-to-day homemaking adventures. I am learning to enjoy every day that I am given and to live life to the fullest.